"The groundwater aquifers currently serving 4.6 million people across metro Phoenix are lagging behind growth on a trajectory that would run just short of projected needs in 100 years, according to a new state groundwater model released Thursday by Gov. Katie Hobbs. As a result, the state's water agency will stop approving new development that relies solely on groundwater."
"Permitting changes included in the deal to suspend the debt limit are drawing concern from environmentalists who say many projects would escape federal review under the proposal making its way through Congress."
"A divided U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Wednesday, with majority support from both Democrats and Republicans to overcome opposition led by hardline conservatives and avoid a catastrophic default."
"In Colorado's famed San Luis Valley, residents who rely on well water are grappling not only with a shortage amid drought, but questionable quality of the water coming out of the ground."
"The deal to raise the US debt ceiling will have significant ramifications for the climate and nature, by fast-tracking a controversial gas pipeline in West Virginia and limiting the scope of environmental reviews for future developments, environmentalists have warned."
"To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price."
"Much of the U.S. Western Pacific territory of Guam was without power and water on Thursday after a typhoon packing ferocious winds and torrential rains battered the island but caused no reported fatalities or major injuries."
"America’s renewable energy drive needs more than a million miles of new transmission lines but emerging resistance includes opponents worried about building them in one of the country’s richest areas of ice-age fossils."
"Environmental advocates and community groups already exposed to high levels of air pollution fear that additional lanes will exacerbate health risks in Southwest Side neighborhoods."
The new proposed limits on climate pollution from existing power plants will be a significant story for years to come, but one with many moving parts and numerous complications. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the larger context and history of the proposed rule, and provides six key developments to watch as you track its evolution.
